The (Imagined) History of Waddies
We know that Waddies was an old game the lads would play at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch no. 275 in Fergus, Ontario. Though it passed down through generations of local players, the origins of the game and the name Waddies are largely undocumented and unknown. Alas, what follows is our best guess at what the real history of Waddies very well might be:
Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 275
Origins
Amidst the rubble and suffering of Europe during the Second World War, a group of Canadian soldiers found solace and escape playing silly target games between battles. The boys buried empty soup cans in the dirt and tossed small rocks at the holes, scoring points for shots made and closest attempts. They formed teams and held small tournaments as their regiment travelled from northern France, across Belgium, and into the occupied Netherlands. The games became legendary among the enlisted men, but increasingly unpopular with officers who feared the loud clinking of rock against metal would attract enemy attention.
One cold November night in 1944, as the Battle of the Scheldt raged around them, a clever Canadian corporal had an idea. He soaked some old newsprint in mud and formed the soggy wads into small round disks, drying them by the small fire he and his comrades had built in an abandoned mill. By the next afternoon, after a long day of whooping Nazi ass, the disks were dry. The dull thwack of the clay wads against the cans was so satisfying, and just quiet enough to keep the officers happy. The game affectionately became known as “Waddies” as the troops moved across the Rhine and towards victory.
Soldiers measuring Waddie distances.
Evolution
Back on Canadian soil, the veterans returned to their hometowns. While the battlefield games of Waddies were nostalgically remembered at regimental reunions, by the 1950s, the game largely faded into memory. In one small Ontario town, however, the legacy of Waddies survived. The boys at Royal Canadian Legion no. 275 in Fergus built boards from plywood and cut holes about the size of a soup can. They tried metal washers instead of the wadded paper pucks but the washers damaged the floor when an enthusiastic toss went awry. They tried beanbags but the beanbags didn’t have the same action. Beanbags are for kids.
Finally, Sergeant James “Nort” Norton found the solution. While he was visiting his grandmother one Sunday afternoon, he noticed the protective rubber castor cups under the legs of her sofa. He grabbed all six while she wasn’t looking. They were the perfect size and weight. Later that night, he showed them to the guys at the Legion. The grip was smooth. The smack of the disk on the plywood was sublime. Experienced tossers could float them flat through the air, while rookies made them wobble and roll. The age of modern Waddies had begun.
Pat and Doug Muldoon won the Waddies Cup three years in a row and were unbeaten during the 1964-65 season.*
*names, dates and facts not at all real
A New Tradition
As with all great athletes, the veterans grew old and their skills declined. Games became more infrequent. Waddies boards gathered dust in basement closets and in the backrooms of the Legion. The game was once again at risk of fading into obscurity, until one day in 1988 when a young Andrew J. Speers was gifted a set of Waddies boards from his grandfather.
Andy wrapped his thumb and index finger around the Waddie. It felt right. He spun the puck in the air and marvelled at its effortless glide. He tossed the Waddie at the board. It missed the hole but made a loud smack against the wood. One point. Andy was hooked.
He gathered his friends and they learned the rules, adding their own tweaks to the historic game. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, this team of friends spent countless hours playing Waddies in basements, at cottages, in university dorms, at parties and even at their own weddings. Wins were celebrated with intolerable boasting while losses were suffered with immature pouting and tantrums. In every case, exhibition games and sanctioned tournaments involved copious partying, constant chirping and plenty of shenanigans.
In 2020, bored stiff during the COVID-19 pandemic and missing their beloved game, the aging friends formed a company, BortCo, and began manufacturing and marketing Waddies to the world.
Waddies is not just a game. It’s a part of our heritage. And now it can be a part of yours.
We’re a group of childhood friends from a small town in Southern Ontario, and we’re mass-producing a game that we’ve loved since we were teens. Our homemade boards (like the ones shown above) have gotten a serious upgrade.